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Energy Week #534 – 8/3/2023
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, July 27
Wind farm (musicFactory lehmannsound, Pexels)
Minute 2
¶ “Democrats Push More Resilient, Lower-Carbon Infrastructure At US Senate Climate Hearing” • The changing climate is hurting infrastructure and the national economy, members of the US Senate Budget Committee said. Members of both parties agreed on the need to speed up the approval process for large energy and infrastructure projects. [Iowa Capital Dispatch]
Charging an EV (myenergi, Unsplash)
Minute 5
¶ “Is The Decline Of Oil In Sight?” • The idea of “peak oil” has been around for decades. It foresees a peak in the amount of oil we can extract and an irreversible decline in production. Last month, the International Energy Agency recently announced that we may soon reach a different but related value: a peak in the global use of (or “demand for”) oil. [CNN]
Lithium extraction from brines (US DOE image)
Minute 8
¶ “Lithium Extraction And Conversion From Geothermal Brines – Ten Projects Get $10.9 Million From US Government” • The US DOE announced $10.9 million for ten projects across nine states that will advance innovative technologies to extract and convert battery-grade lithium from geothermal brine sources within the US. [CleanTechnica]
Friday, July 28
Floating offshore wind turbine (Untrakdrover, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Minute 10
¶ “Governor Mills Signs Bill To Create Jobs, Advance Clean Energy, And Fight Climate Change Through Offshore Wind” • Governor Janet Mills signed into law LD 1895, to procure up to 3,000 MW of offshore wind energy, allowing for critical port development, while protecting critical lobstering areas from development. [Maine.gov]
1 Java Street building (Marvel and Lendlease image)
Minute 13
¶ “AC Is Hard On The Planet. This Building Has A Sustainable Solution” • With 834 rental apartments along with commercial space, a building on Brooklyn’s waterfront is set to be the largest multifamily, residential building with “geothermal” heating and cooling system in New York State when it’s completed in late 2025, developer Lendlease says. [CNN]
Italian weather station (Rémih, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 16
“False Claims Of Bogus Heatwave Spread Online” • False claims suggesting that the BBC misreported temperatures in southern Europe were spread on social media. One GB News presenter accused the BBC of trying to “make people terrified of the weather” by reporting ground temperatures instead of the air temperatures. The accusation is debunked. [BBC]
Saturday, July 29
Installing the substation (South Fork Wind image)
Minute 19
¶ “The First US Utility-Scale Offshore Wind Farm Just Got The First US-Built Offshore Substation” • The first US-built offshore substation is now standing at New York’s South Fork Wind, the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in US federal waters. South Fork Wind’s 1,500-ton, 60-foot-tall offshore substation came from Texas to New York by ship. [Electrek]
Wind turbines (Dan Meyers, Unsplash)
Minute 22
¶ “Federal Regulators Approve New Rules To Ease Backlogs” • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finalized long-awaited new rules intended to reform how power generation projects get connected to the electric grid. FERC Chairman Willie Phillips said there are 2,000 GW of power projects stuck in interconnection queue. [Idaho Capital Sun]
Portland (Jeana Bala, Unsplash)
Minute 24
¶ “Heat Pumps And Floating Wind To Lead Zero Emissions Campaign In Maine” • When the people of Maine realized how much money they could save each winter by switching to heat pumps, they began installing them in record numbers. In fact, the Maine blew by a target of 100,000 heat pumps by 2025 two years ahead of schedule. [CleanTechnica]
Sunday, July 30
Sea surface temperatures (Copernicus Climate Change Service at ECMWF)
Minute 27
¶ “July 2023 Set To Be Hottest Month On Record” • “According to the data released today, July has already seen the hottest three-week period ever recorded; the three hottest days on record; and the highest-ever ocean temperatures for this time of year,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists at the UN headquarters in New York. [CleanTechnica]
Vacation (Asad Photo Maldives, Pexels)
Minute 30
¶ “Vacations As We Know It Are Over” • Terrified tourists on holidays in the Greek Islands this week came face-to-face with the future. The widespread and extreme weather conditions across southern Europe this summer are a wake-up call – a reminder that not even our vacations are insulated from the growing consequences of global heating. [CNN]
Antarctica (Pixabay, Pexels)
Minute 32
¶ “Antarctica Is Missing An Argentina-Sized Amount Of Sea Ice, And Scientists Are Scrambling To Figure Out Why” • Much of the Northern Hemisphere is suffering record-breaking summer heat waves, but in the Antarctic winter, another terrifying climate record is being broken: The ice is 1.6 million sq km (0.6 million sq mi) below the record low set in 2022. [CNN]
Monday, July 31
Energy Storage (CETT image)
Minute 35
¶ “CETF Counters Long Lead Times With 200 MWh Battery ‘Hives’” • Clean Energy Transfer Fund, based in Queensland, plans to get around long lead times and major capital outlays of grid-scale renewables projects by use of hundreds of sub-5-MW battery units across Australia to create coordinated battery ‘hives’ of up to 200 MWh each. [pv magazine Australia]
Sherburne County Gen Station (Tony Webster, Creative Commons)
Minute 38
¶ “Northland Transmission Line To Boost Reliability As Power Plants Are Replaced By Renewables” • Large cross-country transmission lines carrying clean energy from remote rural areas to population centers will be a key strategy for cutting emissions. The 180-mile-long Northland Reliability Project has a budget of $970 million. [Energy News Network]
Firefighters (BC government image)
Minute 40
¶ “Canada wildfire: Firefighter dies tackling British Columbia blaze” • A third firefighter has died battling Canada’s worst wildfire season on record. So far this season, Canadian wildfires have burned about 30 million acres – more than the land area of South Korea or Cuba. Out of the 990 active fires in Canada, 613 are considered out of control. [BBC]
Tuesday, August 1
Idle oil rigs (Andy Beecroft, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
Minute 43
¶ “The UK Will Drill For More Oil And Gas In The North Sea” • The UK government announced plans to allow a big expansion of drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea in a move that green activists describe as a taking a “wrecking ball” to the UK climate commitments. He also announced plans for two carbon capture and storage sites in the North Sea. [CNN]
Flooded Montpelier (SMSgt Michael Davis, US Air National Guard)
Minute 46
¶ “How The US Is Fighting Back Against Deadly Floods” • In early July, the state of Vermont was hit by historic flooding. Over nine inches of rain fell in some areas in a single day. And climate change is projected to bring more precipitation. Restoring key floodplains in Vermont could reduce flood-related damages by 20%, a study had shown in 2022. [BBC]
Geothermal power in Iceland (David Elvar Masson, Pexels)
Minute 48
¶ “NREL Researchers Bring Technical Expertise To Communities Selected For Geothermal Heating & Cooling Initiative” • NREL will assist communities in Colorado (Carbondale), Vermont (Middlebury), and Alaska (Seward and Pilgrim Hot Springs, a remote community near Nome) to install district or networked geothermal technologies. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, August 2
Offshore oil rig (tsuda, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 51
¶ “The UK Once Vowed To Be A Global Climate Leader. Now Rishi Sunak Is Stoking A Culture War On Green Policies” • Less than two years ago, Britain was making itself a global leader in fighting the climate crisis. Now, as the Sunak government limps towards an election many expect it to lose, determination seems to have been swapped for divisiveness. [CNN]
Power lines (dhahi alsaeedi, Unsplash)
Minute 54
¶ “Electric lines kill birds. But they’re a lot better than climate change” • The National Audubon Society published a report that makes the case for displacing fossil fuels by building a lot more renewable energy infrastructure – even if certain birds are killed or harmed by some of that infrastructure. The report focuses on power lines specifically. [Los Angeles Times]
Phoenix (Rebecca Lawrence, Unsplash)
Minute 56
¶ “Phoenix Gets Some Relief From Heat Streak Of 31 Days Over 110°F” • Residents of Phoenix have received some brief respite as a 31-day streak of temperatures over 110°F (43°C) came to an end after monsoon rains. The heat streak ended on Monday when the temperatures maxed out at 108°F. Temperatures are expected to rise again this week, possibly to 115°F. [BBC]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #534 – 8/3/2023
George Harvey, blogger, author, and journalist for Green Energy Times and CleanTechnica, computer engineer
Tom Finnell, electrical engineer, transmission grid expert, world traveler, philanthropist, and philosopher
Energy, Renewable Energy, Wind Power, Solar, Batteries, Nuclear, Coal, Oil, Gas, Climate Change
Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 